capital allocation – Success in Simulation and Schedulinghttps://www.simio.com/blog
Idea exchange on how to make simulation and scheduling projects more successful.Mon, 10 Nov 2008 01:27:30 +0000en-US
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1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.2.3https://www.simio.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/cropped-logo-square-schneider-32x32.pngcapital allocation – Success in Simulation and Schedulinghttps://www.simio.com/blog
3232Simulation Applications in Assemblyhttps://www.simio.com/blog/2008/11/09/simulation-applications-in-assembly/
https://www.simio.com/blog/2008/11/09/simulation-applications-in-assembly/#respondMon, 10 Nov 2008 01:27:30 +0000https://www.simio.com/blog/2008/11/09/simulation-applications-in-assembly/Continue reading →]]>Assembly processes are a common part of manufacturing and can be found in applications as diverse as apparel, electronics, automotive, aerospace, and even food processing. Assembly operations share many common simulation applications with general manufacturing, but also have many unique characteristics and problems which can often be assisted using simulation.

Material handling and other automated equipment are prevalent in most assembly operations. Simulation can help both in the initial design as well as analyzing to get improved efficiency.

I have found that most people think they can predict process variability fairly well, but when pressed to predict the behavior of even the simplest system, they fail miserably. This is a dangerous combination. Process variability can make the performance of typical systems hard to predict and overconfidence can lead you to incorrect decisions. Fortunately, simulation can provide extensive analysis to project performance, demystify variability, and reduce risk.

Often assemblies are made following a Bill of Material (BOM). Some simulation software has built-in BOM modeling features to make this easy. Whether your supply chain for the assembly involves only other departments in the building or involves off shore companies, simulation can help you assess the supply chain risk and design a system to meet corporate objectives.

For both manual and highly automated systems, line balancing can be a difficult task in assembly. Getting it wrong, even by a small amount, can result in an expensive loss of efficiency. Simulation can help not only tweaking a system for optimal efficiency, but also evaluating major changes in a safe, inexpensive, off-line environment.

Assembly operations can be capital or labor-intensive. Effective allocation of capital and labor is often a need that simulation can fulfill. Simulation can help identify bottlenecks and underutilized resources so that you can gain insight into your operations and get more out of your resources.

Markets change. Technology changes. It sometimes seems like the sole job of Marketing is to make your job miserable by introducing new productivity-damaging products. Simulation can help you respond to change requests with objective data about the cost and other impacts to your system.

It is well known that simulation technology is very effective at creating work schedules while taking into account the complexities of the facility. A few simulation products offer features to enable this application. You can even use the model built for optimizing design as the basis for a plant scheduling model.

In summary, simulation applied to assembly like in other applications, can help streamline designs, reduce risk, improve throughput, and increase your bottom-line profitability.